Halo: Before The Storm
Summary It is set in 2552. During the Second Battle of Earth. The sections with the Battle of Voi would be happening during the levels Tsavo Highway and The Storm in Halo 3. The sections detailing the Invasion of Europe are set at the same time, in Normandy, France. Characters UNSC Battle of Voi *Sergeant Nathan Vatz *Staff Sergeant Nick Williams *Corporal Mark Higgins *Private First Class Andrew Martin *Corporal Alexis Vega *Sergeant Harry Richards *Sergeant Major Christine Taylor *Staff Sergeaant Ryan Nelson Battle of Normandy *Sergent Jake Halverson *Corporal Ray Andreas *Private Victoria Harrison *Sergeant Major Scott McAllen *Corporal Keira Griggs *Staff Sergeant Paul Eversmann *Sergeant Austin Smith *Lieutenant Elliot Reid ''Halo: Before The Storm'' Chapter 1: Fortifications 29th of November, 2552, 10:00, Normandy, France Corporal Ray Andreas looked out over the wall of his bunker and stared at the construction happening below him. The Marines on the beach below him were setting up minefields and Anti-Air defenses. Out on the horizon, hovering approximately 76 miles from his current position was a Covenant CCS-Class Battlecruiser. Two hours previously, a scout vessel in the ocean reported the launch of a wave of twenty Phantom dropships. Contact with the scout vessel was lost soon after. That's why they were setting up the defenses. The scout vessel reported that the Phantoms were headed towards the coast of Normandy, and would arrive within five hours. With three hours till they arrived, the base was getting frantic. Ray had never seen things at the base move so quickly, it was... "CORPORAL!" a voice barked. Ray turned around and saluted his superior, Staff Sergeant Paul Eversmann. Behind Paul was a woman who looked like she was in her early 20's. "A new recruit" he thought with a groan. There had been many recruits arriving at the base in the last two hours, and luckily he hadn't been assigned to be the tour guide for one. Until now. "Corporal, this is Private Victoria Harrison. You'll be showing her the base. Victoria, this is Corporal Ray Andreas" Eversmann said. "Pleased to meet you, Corporal" said Victoria. "Yeah, a pleasure... May I have a word with the Sergeant? Alone." Andreas said, glaring at Eversmann. "Sure.." she replied, then she stepped out of the bunker. "What the hell man!?" he yelled. "Don't you 'what the hell man' me, Corporal" Eversmann snapped "Oh, don't you fucking bring ranks into this!" "Or you'll what?" "I'll kick your ass. I protected you back in High School, and now I'll get some payback" "That's insubordination, Marine" "Oh like I give a fuck..." Andreas spat "Marine, you have ten seconds to calm the fuck down before I send you out on the Pelican that's waiting out on the tarmac" Andreas glared at Paul. Then he walked out of the bunker and, pointing to each building in turn, said: "The Barracks, Mess Hall, Armory, Garage, Airfield, Med-Center, Drill Grounds, Supply Pad, and the Officers Quarters and Offices. That's all ya need to know Vicky. I'll be going now." "Don't call me that." She snapped "Very funny, Andreas," Eversmann said "Give her a real tour" ---- About an hour later, after Andreas finished the tour of the base, they joined the Marines on the beach in setting up the last of the Anti-Air Defense Turrets. With only a few hours until the Phantoms arrived, the pace at the base got even more frantic. Weapons had to be carried to bunkers, Warthogs and Scorpions needed to be fueled up, weapons needed to be cleaned, loaded, and brought to their bunkers, gates needed to be closed off, and the Marines still had to be briefed on their mission. Half an hour later, the Marines were in their bunkers, their weapons loaded, and charged. They waited. Ray looked around his bunker. Eversmann stood with his hands clenched to the handles of the HMG, Sergent Jake Halverson stood near the door, BR55 in hand, his fellow Corporal, Keira Griggs, crouched with her SRS-99D propped up on the bunker's front wall, watching the beach and sky. Victoria Harrison stood in the corner, looking like she was about to collapse, clutching her MA5C. Andreas tightened his grip on his BR55 and looked out over the ocean. If only he'd realized, he was watching the wrong direction. Chapter 2: Voi 29th of November, 2552, 12:00, Voi, Kenya Sergeant Nathan Vatz was running before he hit the ground. His Pelican made a low altitude sweep over the lake bed, dropping off Vatz and his Fireteam. Bringing his BR55 up, Vatz scanned for Covenant activity. He called out "Clear" then lead his team from the edge of the lake up to the factory doors. Here they set up a small sandbag barrier in front of the door, with an HMG set up. With the vantage point's elevation, the turret could be used to cover the whole lake bed with fifty calibre rounds. It had a month since the last time he'd faced the Covenant, the time he'd almost lost his arm, and suffered severe burns down his right side, but Vatz was still in pain. Not as bad as it once was though. It was more like the feeling of an old scab being ripped off. Vatz was still itching for combat though. After the Brutes attack on Crow's Nest, where Vatz was evacuated with the wounded. He scanned the lake bed again.Vatz saw a pair of Phantoms appear, then it began dropping off Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts. Smiling, Vatz aimed his rifle and fired. ---- Corporal Alexis Vega watched as the pair of Phantoms approached from the crater. She called out a warning. "Phantoms inbound!" Pulling back her MA5C's charging handle, Alexis dove behind a low wall and prepared to fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sergeant Harry Richards open fire with the HMG, and saw SSgt Nick Williams' SRS-99D roar. Brute blood splattered to the ground. From behind Richards, Cpl Mark Higgins began firing his MA5C, at the same time, Alexis' MA5C joined it. Plasma blasts and rifle rounds flew through the air. The HMG fired a steady stream of death. Blue and purple blood splattered the rocks. The Covenant forces faltered, then ran for cover, not before many more of them fell. Alexis glanced out at the lake bed, noting the amount of bodies "There cant be more than a dozen left!" Alexis called. "Roger. Martin! Get your Jackhammer going!" Vatz yelled. Private First Class Andrew Martin, who was hiding atop the factory, yelled something that was drowned out by the mighty WHOOSH of his M41 SSR MAV/AW. The missile exploded sending bits of Jackals and Brutes flying. The launcher fired again, sending more dismembered aliens flying. After a third and final missile, the last of the Covenant force lay dead on the dried up lake bed. Martin climbed down off the building to get more ammunition. Alexis joined him and the rest of the team in re-arming, in case more Phantoms returned. Alexis and Mark began to patrol the lake bed, keeping watch for any Covenant aircraft. After a while, two more Pelicans arrived, dropping off several Mongooses, which Alexis, Mark, and some Marines. from the Pelicans, took to the highway tunnel on the other side of the lake bed, along with several weapon crates. Alexis walked over to Vatz, who was standing alone, staring into the crater at the Covenant ships. "Somethings not right" He said "What do you mean?" Alexis asked. "Their ships have been out there, blasting at the rock, they haven't even sent anything after us since those Phantoms a few hours ago" "And...?" "Somethings up. They're waiting. Planning. We need to prepare for it." Walking back to the rest of the Marines, Vatz called out "Marines! Set your boots on the line!" "The Covenant is planing something big, an assault. And we need to be ready to stop them. I need my Fireteam in the highway tunnel, along with you three. I'll need a good sniper up on that tower, and you two, with the M41's, get up on the second tower. Some of you set up those Missile Pod turrets on either side of that crate, and I want two teams based in that crate. You four, I need you to mine the lake bed. I don't give a damn where, just mine where ever you think they might land. The rest of you stay at the factory entrance, let nothing through. Alright, MOVE!" Vatz ordered The two Marines with the M41s followed Vatz and his Fireteam up the ramp, then turned right, and went up the lift on the crane tower. The Marine with the SRS-99D followed the others up another ramp, and turned left, passed the Marines setting up a pair of Missile Pod Turrets, and went up the other crane tower's lift. The four Marines Vatz indicated went to the factory, collected all the mines, both anti-tank and anti-personal, then began placing small clusters of them in the open areas of the lake bed. Once they finished they ran up to the factory, picked up their weapons, and took up positions in the factory. Vatz's team headed into the highway tunnel, and sealed the door at the far end. They then set up two HMGs at the door two the lake bed. After restocking on ammo and other supplies, the team set up their positions. Richards was on one HMG, and Martin on the other. Williams set up a sniping post in one of the empty dumpsters, and Vatz crouched behind a truck, propping his BR55 on the hood. Alexis and Higgins crouched behind a sandbag barrier in the doorway, between Richards and Martin's sandbag HMG bunkers, with their MA5Cs traded for a pair of BR55s. The three other Marines, armed with MA5Cs, set up a small bunker off to the side of the tunnel. The Marines at the crate were set up similarly, with the two Missile Pod Turrets being manned with a Marine with an MA5C and one with a BR55 behind them to provide covering fire. At the factory, the HMG turret and sandbags were moved inside the factory, in case they were attacked from behind, through the factory. The rest of the Marines were spread out through the factory's entryway. All the Marines settled in for what they thought would be a long wait. Chapter 3: Defense of Normandy 29th of November, 2552, 13:07, Normandy, France Looking around, Victoria knew something was wrong. She could tell by the looks on the others faces. The Phantoms should've showed up a few minutes ago, and hadn't. She was getting nervous. Looking out the main window, she saw the CCS-Class Battlecruiser, it was hovering out there, immobile. She thought that maybe the Phantoms were sent to destroy the scout ship, then realized that the Covenant, however insane they are, wouldn't send twenty Phantoms to destroy one small ship. There was a strange high pitched, almost whining sound coming from behind them. Victoria could see the others frowning, the whine grew louder and louder. Then it stopped. Then there was an explosion. ---- Andreas woke up with his head pounding. Sounds of gunfire echoed through the roof. He opened his eyes and saw the blue sky, a burst of plasma streaked across his vision, and he leaped to his feet. Jake Halverson lay dead in a growing pool of blood at his feet. Looking around, he saw Keira getting up, and looking for a new weapon, her SRS's barrel had been broken off. Out of the corner of his eye, Andreas spotted a crumpled heap of Marine fatigues and armor, half buried in rubble. Rushing over, Andreas knocked the debris off Victoria, and felt for a pulse. It was weak and he barely felt it. Andreas set her head on his lap them slapped her lightly on the cheek, trying to wake her up. "Victoria, Victoria! Vicky are you alright? Vicky!" Her eyelids fluttered. "Don't," she snarled "Call me Vicky" Andreas grinned, and helped her up. Retrieving their weapons, Ray realized that Paul wasn't there, and the HMG wasn't either. He swallowed hard, then looked over the edge of the cliff. He saw Eversmann lying in a crumpled heap on the wreckage of the HMG, he also saw the AA Guns firing out their 50mm flak shells. Running over to Keira and Victoria, Andreas mumbled "C'mon, we need to get out of here." Hopping over the ruined wall of the bunker, Andreas saw Marines fighting against hundreds of Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts. He raised his rifle and fired at a group of Grunts that had a pair of Marines pinned down behind some rubble. With Andreas' remaining squad's fire, the Grunts were cut down. They rushed over to the Marines. "Sergeant Major Scott McAllen," One Marine said, "and this is Sergeant Austin Smith, we can't thank you enough for saving us back there" "Corporal Ray Andreas, glad to help" Andreas replied. The group ran over to an intact bunker, and found several Marine officers gathered around a computer screen. The screen showed an overhead view of the base. There were red blips, representing Covenant forces, everywhere, and Blue blips, representing Marines, clustered in several locations. A tally of all forces was on the top left. It read: COVENANT FORCES: 936 INFANTRY, 33 AIRCRAFT, 342 VEHICLES UNSC FORCES: 712 INFANTRY, 14 AIRCRAFT, 200 VEHICLES Andreas swallowed hard. After calling to his squad, he ran out of the bunker, and towards the barracks, where he hid a few grenades. He heard strange noises from inside. Jackals. He pulled out his M6G, pulled back on the slide, turned the corner, seeing them digging through a fellow Marine's trunk. He aimed... ''-BLAM-'' One Jackal collapsed onto the trunk it was robbing, a large hole in its head gushing violet blood. Its partner turned around, ''-BLAM-'' Second Jackal down. Moving inside, Andreas holstered his Magnum, and scooped the grenades out of his own trunk. Stepping outside, he saw a large group of Brutes keeping Marines out of the armory. "I'll handle this" He thought. Lobbing two grenades into the middle of the Brute pack, he advanced towards them. The frags exploded, killing several of the Brutes. The Marines advanced and quickly cut down the rest of the Brutes. In the Armory, the Marines restocked on ammo and grenades. Some grabbed Rockets. Others grabbed Snipers. Andreas picked up more ammo for his BR55, and swapped his M6G for an M90A CAWS. He was going to hit the Brutes hard. He smiled. Chapter 4: Assault on Voi 29th of November, 2552, 12:30, Voi, Kenya Vatz crouched behind the truck, his eyes and ears open. Gunfire was ringing through the lake bed's cool air. The Brutes had attacked a few minutes earlier, and now several Marines lay dead, including the men on the cranes. Somehow the Marines who set up the mines picked the perfect spots, with almost a fourth of the Covenant force was killed by them. Pulling the trigger of his BR55, Vatz saw a Jackal twitch and fall dead. Glancing at the rest of his team, Vatz saw Alexis taking care of Higgins, who had severe plasma burns on his chest and arms, while also one handed firing her BR55 into a group of Brutes. He had to admire her spirit. He popped up from his hiding spot and ran over to Williams in the dumpster. Without pausing, he tapped twice on its wall and continued over to the Missile Pod Turrets, which had just taken down a Phantom. "Marines, fall back to the factory!" He screamed. "We can't!" Yelled a Marine. "There's to many of them, were pinned here!" "Who's in charge here?" "Uh, Sergent... Taylor. Sergent Major Christine Taylor." The Marine answered. Vatz walked over to the only woman at in the group, "Ma'am, Sergent Nathan Vatz, I need to talk." he said. "Go ahead." "The Brutes are to strong, we can't fight 'em off." Vatz explained "If your forces can get over to mine, in the highway tunnel, we'll be able to hold them off, and maybe beat 'em." "Alright." she said "Marines! We're going to the highway tunnel to join the Sergent's team, let's move out!" "Why do we have to go?" A Marine said. "Because, Staff Sergent," She replied "The Brutes are to strong and we can't fight them off, we'll end up killed. So, were moving our position to one where we can hole up and stay for a while." That convinced them. The group of 20 Marines made their way across the lake bed to the highway tunnel. Vatz pumped an entire clip into a group of Grunts, killing half of them, unfortunately, one of the survivors had a Fuel Rod Gun, and fired it into the Marines group. With only five Marines left, their pace quickened. When they reached Williams' dumpster, he leaped out and joined the group. As they entered the tunnel, the fire on them intensified, the three Marines to the left of the doorway jumped out of cover to join the others and were cut down by plasma fire. Once the last Marine was in, Vatz slammed his fist on the door activation panel and sealed it off. Vatz slumped to the floor, as a medic got to work in Higgins. Luckily everyone in the tunnel and factory would survive. Unfortunately, their were sill a few dozen Marines locked outside. The fought valiantly and by the time the last one was killed, only one fourth of the original Covenant attacking force was left. Chapter 5: Repulsing the Brutes 29th of November, 2552, 13:56, Normandy, France Pumping his M90A again, Andreas blew another Jackal open with a spray of violet blood. Seeing a Brute squad incoming, he dove behind a rock and pulled out his BR55. A few minutes ago he checked the tally of units. It read: COVENANT FORCES: 217 INFANTRY, 12 PHANTOMS, 47 VEHICLES UNSC FORCES: 117 INFANTRY, 97 VEHICLES But the UNSC Forces count was steadily dropping, and the Covenant Forces count was dropping very slowly. Andreas gritted his teeth, this was going to be tough. Looking to his right, he saw Victoria, Keira, Austin and Scott. He decided to do something he saw in a video made almost 500 years ago. Leaping over the rock, Andreas charged the Brutes with his M90A out, and screamed two words as loud as he could. ---- Reloading its Spiker, the Brute Major saw one of the Humans leap over a rock, and charge at his lance. The Brute bared its teeth and leveled the Spiker at the Humans head. It stopped before it shot. The last thing the Brute thought was "Why is that vermin screaming it's name?". Then its thoughts were silenced by the 8 gauge shell that tore its brain to shreds. ---- When Victoria saw Andreas charging the Brute pack she got up and ran after him, because she knew it was suicide to attack them alone. She was dimly aware of the others following her. A sniper rifle roared, a Brute fell dead. Andreas' M90A roared in response, the pack's leader fell, a hole in its skull. Opening up with her MA5C, Victoria saw Grunts and Jackals twitch and fall under the hail of .308 caliber rounds. And then, it was over. The pack lay dead around them. Somehow all five Marines were unhurt. They heard a commotion behind them. About twenty Warthogs and ten Gauss Cannon equipped 'Hogs roared past, pushing the Covenant back toward the base's gate. The Marines were close to winning. All they needed was one final push. Chapter 6: Into the Factory 29th of November, 2552, 13:30, Voi, Kenya Plasma fire echoed through the tunnel. Vatz wondered how long they had been pinned in the tunnel. A faint whirring drifted from the opposite door. He picked up and aimed his BR55. Hearing shouting voices, Vatz lowered his rifle. A grinding whir told him the door had been opened. Around the corner rolled a TT Hog and a half dozen Marines. And driving the Hog was... The Chief! "Mount up! Rockets in back! Move fast and punch hard!" Alexis called. Putting his BR55 on his back, Vatz picked up an M41 and hopped on the back of the nearest Mongoose. All around him, Marines were doing the same, the Chief collected ammo, then took another Mongoose. He smiled. They were going to hit the Brutes hard. A Marine hit the door control. His driver flew out of the opened highway tunnel door. Vatz steadied himself, then fired a rocket into the nearest Ghost. The Chief went straight at one of the AA Wraiths. The Marines ion their Mongooses fired in tandem. The Wraith erupted in purple fire. "One down, one to go!" Vatz yelled over his COM. All four Mongooses turned toward the final AA Wraith. The gunner saw them, and opened fire on the Chief's Mongoose. Vatz watched in awe as the Chief stood up, letting his shields protect the Marine on the back. Eight rockets streaked towards the Wraith. Its gunner tried vainly to escape, but was killed by the HEAT shells and purple fireball that consumed his vehicle. An ominous mechanical grinding noise overpowered the pounding of the AA Turret. "What’s that sound?" SSgt Nelson asked. "It's getting closer!" Martin screamed "Oh, this is going to be good." Vatz said Over the COM, Johnson informed them that it was a Scarab. It was pointless to say, because as soon as he did, the Scarab climbed down off the roofs. The Missile Pod turrets opened up. "Use rockets! Target its joints!" Williams ordered All of the Marines began firing. Some even came out of the Factory entrance to help destroy it. ---- "Now while it's down! Find a way inside!" Vatz yelled to the Chief. "GET AWAY! It's gunna blow!" a Marine screamed, but it was drowned out by the massive explosion that rocked the lake bed. "We've got this area locked down, sir. Follow us, we’ll get you through." Sgt Maj Taylor said to the Chief and Arbiter. They advanced through the door, all around them wounded Marines were calling for assistance. Vatz saw a trio of Marines are pinned down under sandbags as Spiker projectiles fly through the air. A pair of Marines on an inspection bridge frantically open fire on Brutes all around them with a turreted Heavy Machine Gun. The new arrivals opened fire and soon all the Covenant were dead, their blood staining the floor. Advancing further, they saw Factory Workers running around, being chased by Brutes, which were quickly cut down. Suddenly, a pair of Hunters burst through the back door of the Factory. Chapter 7: Vengeance 29th of November, 2552, 14:19, Normandy, France "Move up!" Lieutenant Elliot Reid commanded "And get those Scorpions rolling!" A low rumbling said that her orders had been followed. She smiled. The Brutes were now on the run. The Scorpions and Warthogs under her command were heading to surround and kill them. The Scorpions were ordered to press forward, to make the Brutes keep running in the direction of the base's gate. The Warthogs were flanking them, driving on the far side of the buildings, they would cut off the Brute's escape route and begin cutting them down. The infantry were escorting the Scorpions down the main road of the base, in hot pursuit of the fleeing Covenant force. ---- Andreas marched along side the rest of his team, now including Sergent Major Scott McAllen and Sergent Austin Smith, who replaced Halverson and Eversmann. Aiming his BR55, he drew a bead on the back of a Jackals head, only to have it erupt in a spray of violet blood. He glanced over at Keira, sure enough there she was, reloading her new SRS-99D. Grinning, he aimed at another Jackal and fired, ripping its skull open, spraying violet blood, and causing its brain to fall out into the path of a Brute, who stepped on it and slipped, falling on one of the few remaining Grunts and killing it before having a tank shell blow it into pieces. The rumbling of the Scorpion beside him slowed, and was replaced by the sound of a Phantom's engine. Looking up he saw one with a large cylindrical device on the bottom. It looked familiar... "Oh shi- THE PHANTOM HAS A BOMB! RUN" Andreas roared All around him, Marines looked up and then began running in every direction. Grabbing Victoria's wrist, Andreas yanked her out of the Scorpions machine gun turret, and out of the mass of running Marines. "C'mon!" he yelled Together they wove through the crowd of Marines, and into the Mess Hall. "What? You hungry?" she joked "Ha ha, very funny," he said "We gotta get back out there, the Covenant ground troops are probably..." He was cut off by a massive explosion from outside. The Phantoms had dropped their bombs and were firing on the fleeing Marines. Peeking out of a door, Andreas saw that most of the Scorpions had been destroyed, there were only 3 left, and they began firing on the Phantoms, allowing the Covenant infantry to advance on them. "We're in trouble." he whispered, then he began firing his BR55. ---- Lieutenant Reid shook her head. She hadn't anticipated the Covenant bombing her Scorpions. Now many were destroyed, and more Marines were dead. She walked over to the field radio and turned it on. "Warthog teams, do you copy?" she asked "Yes Ma'am, loud and clear." Came the response "Good. Now, the Scorpions have been attacked, and the Covenant is pushing towards them. I need you to move in, and take out as many as you can. Be careful though, they have Phantom air support." "OK, Ma'am. I'll radio the others and get in there to support the Scorps." "Good. Over and out." she said, and clicked off the radio. She sighed. This was supposed to be a quick, decisive battle. But it turned into a long and hard skirmish. She hoped they would win. Chapter 8: Through The Door 29th of November, 2552, 13:37, Voi, Kenya "Look out!" Vatz yelled as green blast seared through the air near his container. Poking around the corner, he squeezed the trigger of is rifle and fired a burst at the nearest Hunter, which answered with another searing blast melted part of the container. "And my arm" Vatz thought, smelling charred flesh. He looked up at the sound of clanking metal, thinking it was the Hunters coming to finish him off, then realized it was the Chief who had saw the Hunters fire at him. Vatz stared as the Chief took Vatz's Rocket Launcher and emptied it into the Hunter pair, killing them both. Struggling to his feet, Vatz grabbed his BR55 and stepped towards the remains of his team. The only members left were himself, Alexis, Williams, Martin, and Nelson. Following the Chief to the door, he looked around thinking "What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?". Then he stepped through the door and saw a scene of carnage. Brute bodies lay everywhere, a Chieftain charged the Arbiter and Chief with its Hammer. Vatz raised his rifle and fired at the Chieftain, distracting it long enough for the Arbiter and Chief to escape. Unfortunately, the Chieftain began charging the Marines. The Chief ducked behind the Chieftain and cracked the but of his rifle over it's head. The Chieftain dropped and the Marines continued forward. The Marines pushed to the AA Gun, and the Chief destroyed it. A Pelican was called in to evac Vatz and his team. ---- Vatz took a seat near the Pelican's ramp and watched as the Covenant Anti Air Gun was destroyed, and then took off, flying towards the Forward Unto Dawn. When the Portal activated, Vatz was nearly flung out of the Pelican while looking into the hills. "You ok?" Williams asked "Yeah, yeah," Vatz muttered, "Its just, I got a bad feeling somethings coming from over there." "Nothin's coming from there, all the Covies went through that blue sphere." "Yeah, you're right..." Vatz sighed The Pelican then landed inside the Dawn, and Vatz was rushed off to the med bay, where he would stay for until they arrived at the Ark. Soon after the Pelican landed, a lone damaged looking Covenant CCS-Class Battlecruiser appeared out of Slipspace and crash landed in the town of Voi. Chapter 9: A Final Push 29th of November, 2552, 14:27, Normandy, France Andreas crouched beside the door with his M90A out. The sound of the Brute's footsteps stopped out side the door and it flew open. Straight into Andreas, who reeled back and dropped his M90A, that went spinning across the Mess Hall. Not having time to pull out his BR55, he fired off three rounds from his M6G out of the bottom of it's holster. The first two rounds took out the Brute's shielding and the final round punched through it's skull, sending fragment everywhere. The second Brute roared and pulled out it's Spiker, and said in perfect English: "Time to die, whelp" A loud blast filled the air and the Brute dropped dead. Another pair of blasts came and the last two Brutes fell, revealing Victoria cradling his M90A in her arms. Grinning, he stood up and pulled out his BR55. "Let's get the rest of these bastards." "OK, but I get the Shotgun" Victoria replied Andreas smiled again and stepped out of the Mess Hall. All around him were the hulks of destroyed Scorpion and the bodies of Marines and Brutes. He fired a pair of bursts at the nearest Brute and then rolled behind a low wall. The Brute he had shot charged forward and was quickly cut down by the pair of Warthogs that drove by. Andreas cheered and then aimed at a new target. This one was a Minor towering over a pair of Marines he recognized as Scott and Austin. He charged at the Brute, only to see it fall under the blast from Victoria's M90A. Running over to the others, he spotted another Warthog pair coming by with no gunners or passengers. He waved them down then hopped into the Gauss Hog's turret as Victoria climbed into the passenger seat, and Scott and Austin got into the other Warthog. The drivers gunned the engine and raced down the road. The Covenant forces were in full retreat, and the Marines were going to take out as many as they could. Andreas counted only a dozen surviving Brutes, with four more Jackals and a dozen Grunts. He targeted the Grunts and began firing. His first shot hit the group of Grunts directly in the center, sending them flying through the air. His next few shots were directed at the Brutes, taking down their shields so the LAAG's on the other Warthogs could get direct shots on them.Within minutes the Covenant force had dwindled to only a pair of Brutes which escaped the base and made it to a Phantom, which was shot down minutes later by the AA Turrets that had been set up before the attack.